Study for "The Combat"

23 June 1822

Sets out for Italy with Richard Evans

Remembering the homesickness of his last journey, Etty travelled this time with Richard Evans, who had also studied under Lawrence; despite warnings of the heat, they set out on 23 June 1822 aiming to reach Rome. They crossed to France by the recently developed steamboat, reached Paris on 26 June and spent two weeks visiting Versailles and the galleries; Etty was most impressed by Rubens’s Marie de’ Medici cycle, elements of which he later reused in many of his own works.

10 August 1822

Rome: the Sistine Chapel and Canova

Passing through Dijon, Switzerland, Milan (where they saw Leonardo’s Last Supper and the Brera Gallery) and Florence, Etty and Evans reached Rome on 10 August 1822. Somewhat disappointed by the city, Etty was highly impressed by Michelangelo’s “almost Venetian” colour in the Sistine Chapel and, on Lawrence’s recommendation, met Antonio Canova shortly before the sculptor’s death.

1822–1823

Seven months in Venice

Feeling unsettled in Rome, Etty went to Venice intending to stay ten days, but with a letter of introduction from Charles Lock Eastlake he was taken into the house of Harry D’Orville, the British vice consul, and remained for over seven months. Long convinced that Venice was his spiritual home, he copied paintings in Venetian collections by day and attended the Academy’s life class by night, producing around 50 oil paintings and numerous pencil sketches.

1823

Honorary Academician of the Venetian Academy

The members of the Venetian Academy of Fine Arts were so impressed by Etty that they elected him an Honorary Academician.

1824

His niece Betsy becomes his housekeeper

From 1824 Etty’s household was run by his niece Betsy (Elizabeth Etty), the fifth daughter of his brother John, unmarried and 14 years his junior. She stayed with him for the rest of his life as companion and assistant alongside his official assistant George Franklin, and he came to depend on her increasingly, writing to her in panic whenever he did not hear from her.

1 November 1824

Elected Associate of the Royal Academy

On 1 November 1824 Etty was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy, beating William Allan by 16 votes to seven. The Times, still hostile to him over his perceived indecency, sneered that this could hardly be an honour conferred on Etty: he had deserved the rank long ago and should have obtained it sooner.